If you're thinking of reading these books my advice to you is: don't bother.

It's strange that other than Batman (who's well in the lead with a comfortable fifteen entries) the Fantastic Four are the bunch of superheros that I've written about most on this blog so far (not including this I've written about them four (ha) times: Fantastic Four: 1234, Fantastic Four: First Family, Fantastic Four: World's Greatest / The Masters of Doom and Ultimate Fantastic Four). It speaks a lot to the slipshod nature of this series that they couldn't even be bothered to give it any kind of proper name - so I've had to enter it here as just "Fantastic Four" which I didn't really want to do because it might make it stand out from all the other entires - making it seem like the definite article - when in fact the opposite is true: this is a series that manages to exemplify (for me) all the worst qualities of mainstream superhero books - and in fact the only reason [1] I've bothering to write this is so I can get my rant on.

I don't take notes when I read the books that I write about here, but I feel like maybe I should, that maybe it would be helpful. But let me do my best to recreate the thoughts and feelings I had whilst I read the first volume of this series (and then skimmed my way through the rest of them): Please note that because I'm reading Stephen King (am currently on Book 3 of The Dark Tower! Go me!) I'm gonna crib his style and put my interior monologue in italics. Here goes:

Oh. Ok. Yeah. Ok. Oooh - I like these crazy ideas. And it has this kinda nice boldness to it too: "Idea 101: Solve Everything"- that's cool. That's something that you'd get in a good Grant Morrison comic: the kind of thing he writes that just sounds cool for the sake of it - like you could put it on a T-Shirt maybe. Oh - well - that ended abruptly (oh well). Hmmm. This art is kinda shabby here (is the art getting worse or is that just me? Why have they put in a whole page showing someone offering someone else a sandwich? In fact - why is the art so awfully bad? This person seems sad when it seems like they should be happy. And their body language makes them look like mannequins in a shop window. Damn it. Why do these stories keep ending in such an aburpt way? It reminds me a bit of Alan Moore's Tom Strong. But with Tom Strong even tho the stories at the start were all self-contained - they were still satisfying in and of themselves. This all just feel half-written - Reed Richards just walking out of a battle halfthrough through to deliver some trite Hallmark-style sentiment about how important family is: BLURG! Where's the rest of my story?? And - god - the more of this I read the more I just never want to read a comic book ever again. Oh - look - now they're referencing Mark Millar's and Bryan Hitch's World's Greatest / The Masters of Doom run - but - gah - it's just a reference - it just feels empty and pointless and continuity for the sake of continuity: look there was this thing before and now there's this thing now and - well - what's the point? What's the point? What's the point? What's the point? I hate superhero comics. This is why I never read superhero comics. It's just a never-ending story that doesn't have anything remotely human or real or anything inside it - it's treats it's characters more like action figures that can be posed in any which way rather than people - and from the other Fantastic Four books I've read (all of which - I'll say again: are better than this) I know that it is possible to make these characters feel realistic - it's just not happening here. And damnit Jonathan Hickman - after S.H.I.E.L.D. I trusted you - but after this I feel like I never want to read anything you ever write ever again - because this just feels like quicksand - feels like something that's slowly suffocating me and I feel like I'm reading something that is totally divorced from anything - like being stuck in a teenage boy's bedroom and being forced to read whatever ditherings he can come up with. I want out. My head can't take much more. Oh wait - yeah - this is the one where they kill off one of the major characters - but you know what - apart from enjoying the Wrath of Khan parallels (but then all that does is make me wish I was watching that than reading this) it's all just empty, meaningless and pointless. There is no point to reading this book. I should find something - anything - better. Yeah - think I'l read Fun Home again (just to wipe the taste away). .....................................................................................................................................................
[1] Ok - so not the only reason: the other reason is that this I reckon for a few of you that this is the kinda thing that maybe you'll enjoy (?) and - hell - I reckon it's a good thing to publicize a new series that we have in stock - right? Ok - whatever......................................................................................................................................................
Links: Comics Alliance Interview with Jonathan Hickman.

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About

Hello. And welcome to the blog of the Islington Comic Forum.

A bunch of interlinked posts about the comics available from Islington libraries (of which it turns out there are a lot) this is an attempt to make some sort of Comics Encyclopedia (with added rambling): something to help you find your way around.

Each bite-sized entry (well - they're mostly bite-sized but sometimes I do get a little bit carried away) contains both my ill-informed attempts to give you some idea of what the book is about (and be warned: I do tend to babble): kinda like a primer - written not to simply regurgitate the story (because: blah) but instead try to give you some idea of the flavour of the thing so you can decide for yourself whether you want to give it a go - and also (which some of you may like better): a selection of related links which will take you to reviews, articles and interviews written by people who - frankly - put more time into this sort of thing than me.

The Islington Comic Forum itself is a monthly meeting book group-kinda thing for people interested in comic books (from novices to fanatics). If you'd like to meet new people / sit around and talk about comics / take home some of the books mentioned on this site - then please free feel to drop in (details at the top of the page).

Disclaimers: Please keep in mind that due to the 200 character limit some titles are incompletely tagged: in such cases Genre wins over Artists (sorry). Also: I don't spend much (or any) time proof-reading so this thing is unfortunately riddled with typos and spelling mistakes (sorry). This is all a work-in-progress and I do tend to go back lots and edit and rewrite stuff so if something seems underwritten now - you should know that at some point I will go back and try and fill it out a little bit more. And yeah - all the brackets and footnotes and stuff: I hope they're not too annoying - speaking honestly: using them is the best way I could find to write what it was I want to say. So yeah.

And: (most importantly) thejudgements contained within are just a point of view (like the Dude says: "That's just like, your opinion, man") - so please free feel to disagree if it makes you feel better.

Frequently Asked Questions

Full details for joining can be found here. Membership is free and open to all.

How do I reserve a book?

All members of Islington libraries can reserve Islington stock (this includes books, CDs and weekly DVDs) for free. All you need is your library card number (type it in with no spaces) and your four digit PIN.

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If you do not know your PIN then please contact your local library and speak to a librarian.

How long does it take?

It depends. If the book you reserve is not on loan it'll take around a week to get to you. If you book you reserve is on loan (and it's the only copy we have on the system) then you have to wait for it to come back (check the due date online to see when that will be).

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There's a book I want but it's not in stock - how can I get it?

Fill out the online form here. If it is available to buy, is not too expensive, and think that it would appeal to the general interest then we might be able to get it for you. Although it may take up to 2 or 3 months to arrive.